International Seaways, Inc.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the International CUA Second Quarter 2024 Results Conference Call. My name is Carla, and I will be coordinating your call today. During the presentation, you will have the opportunity to ask questions by pressing star followed by one on your telephone keypad. And if you change your mind, please press star followed by two. I will now hand you over to your host, James Small, CAO and General Counsel, to begin. James, please go ahead.

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to International Seaway's earnings call for the second quarter of 2024. Before we begin, I would like to start off by advising everyone with us on the call today of the following. During this call and in the accompanying presentation, management may make forward-looking statements regarding the company or the industry in which it operates. Those statements may address, without limitation, the following topics. Outlooks for the crude and product tanker markets and changes in trading patterns, Forecasts of world and regional economic activity and of the demand for and production of oil and petroleum products. The effects of ongoing and threatened conflicts around the globe. The company's strategy and business prospects. Expectations regarding revenues and expenses, including vessel, charter hire, and G&A expenses. Estimated future bookings, TCE rates, and capital expenditures. Projected scheduled dry dock and off-hire days. purchases and sales of vessels and construction of new-build vessels, the company's consideration of strategic alternatives, anticipated and recent financing transactions and plans to issue dividends, the company's relationships with its stakeholders, the company's ability to achieve its financing and other objectives, and other economic, political, and regulatory developments globally. Any such forward-looking statements take into account assumptions made by management based on various factors, including management's experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected and future developments, and other factors that management believes are appropriate to consider in the circumstances. Overlooking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, many of which are beyond the company's control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those implied or expressed by the statement. Factors, risks, and uncertainties that could cause International Seaway's actual results to differ from expectations include those described in our annual report on Form 10-K for 2023, our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the second quarter of 2024, and in other filings that we have made or in the future may make with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Now, let me turn the call over to our President and Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Lois LeBrock. Lois?

Thank you very much, James. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining International Seaway's earnings call for the second quarter of 2024. On slide four of the presentation, which you can find in our investor relations section of our website, results for the second quarter represent our eighth consecutive quarter of adjusted net income over $100 million. Net income was $145 million, or $2.91 per share, excluding the gains on vessel sales and other one-off items, adjusted net income for the second quarter was $118 million, or $2.37 per diluted share, and adjusted EBITDA was $167 million. On the lower left section of the slide, we were busy with fleet renewal in the second quarter. taking delivery of six EcoMRs while selling three aged 15 years or more. This lowered our average MR age by one year. One of the three vessel sales closed in mid-July. We funded the acquisition of the EcoMRs with the proceeds from vessel sales, along with a $50 million revolver draw and the issuance of 624 000 shares in cash on hand on the upper right hand side of the slide we continue to benefit from our balance sheet at the end of the second quarter we had 682 million dollars in total liquidity which included 506 million of undrawn revolvers we increased our revolver capacity by nearly consolidated our term loans and converted them into a revolving credit facility. We now save about $80 million per year in mandatory repayments, which also raises our free cash flow generation and lowers our spot break-even rate to under $13,400 per day. As a result of these accomplishments, we continue to share our upside with our shareholders. Today, we declared a combined dividend of $1.50 per share, representing 64% of adjusted net income, and as shown in the lower right hand chart, another quarter of a double digit yield for our shareholders. Over the last 12 months, Seaway's dividend yield has been 12% of our average market cap. We continue to prioritize our balanced capital allocation, positioning the company for the future with opportunistic fleet renewal and enhancing our balance sheet while sharing in our upcycle with a double-digit dividend yield to our shareholders. Slide five, we've updated our bullets on tanker demand drivers with subtle green up arrows next to the bullets represented as positive for tankers, the black dash representing a neutral impact, and a red down arrow meaning the topic is not good for tanker demand. Pulling highlights. We expect oil demand to continue to grow at a rate above its 30-year average growth. A good portion of this growth is regionally in Asia, which has grown slower than expected at the beginning of the year. While oil supply growth is largely in areas not capped by OPEC Plus, tanker demand, particularly the Vs, are better off when the cartel's production also grows. It's a heavy election year worldwide, and results could indirectly impact our tanker demand. While seaways had benefited by geopolitical events that have caused disruptions to both crude and product tanker trades, it is important to recognize that these events have not defined tanker earnings, but merely bolstered a fundamentally strong market. The graphs at the bottom of the slide show that the growth in oil demand and seaboard transportation of crude oil and refined products looks to remain healthy over the next few years. On slide six, Strong tanker markets naturally would dictate more ordering, and the order book has grown to about 11% of the total fleet. However, shifts on order, as we show at the bottom left-hand of the page, are not enough to replace a fleet that is aging significantly. The average age of the tanker fleet today is over 13 years old and is likely to get older with so few new building deliveries. Generally, older ships have less efficiency and less utilization. With a greater percentage of the fleet in this vintage, the industry needs more ships to cover the increasing seaborne demand. Different from other cycles, the longer lead times in our order book could limit the new orders today, especially when factoring in pending environmental regulations. Overall, this sets the stage for a continued strong up cycle over the next few years, and Seaways will capitalize on these market conditions. You can count on us to utilize our balanced capital allocation approach to renew our fleet and adapt to industry conditions with a strong balance sheet while returning to shareholders. I'll now turn it over to our CFO, Jeff Pribor, to provide the financial review. Jeff?